Man Charged over the Murder of Tricia McCauley in Maryland

A man has been charged over the murder of Tricia McCauley in Maryland, the Metropolitan Police Department has said in a news release. The actress and yoga teacher was found strangled on Monday in her car, and had also suffered blunt force trauma.

Adrian Duane Johnson of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was charged with first degree murder on Tuesday night.

Tricia McCauley was scheduled to be at Washington Stage Guild’s Christmas dinner on the night she died. Guests texted and called her but received no response. At that point nobody raised the alarm as she had missed the dinners in previous years, which she had been attending for the last fifteen years. When the guests heard she had missed a flight to see her family they became concerned.

Once reported missing, officers found McCauley dead in her car early on Tuesday.

The guild’s executive director, Ann Norton, stated she met McCauley’s landlord and police at her apartment. They discovered that McCauley had been preparing Brussels sprouts to take to the dinner, but the dish was gone.

According to interim Police Chief Peter Newsham, police became suspicious of Johnson after linking him with a theft at a CVS the previous night. After finding McCauley’s Toyota, the police found Johnson in a nearby CVS who gave the police the keys to her car.

Tricia McCauley was the daughter of an Air Force family and moved around the country throughout her childhood. She is said to have been kind and intelligent and was well thought of in both acting and yoga worlds.

Largess said of her, “She was a creative and open actress. She was a delight to watch on stage.”